Emerging Leaders Program (ELP)

The Emerging Leaders Program is an immersive, leadership experience where students in their first two years will explore their strengths, discover their leadership style, and start making a positive impact early in their time on campus. Through ELP, participants will connect with fellow Spartans, learn from campus partners, and lead an initiative that brings real change to your community. 

Applications for the Emerging Leaders Program can be found on the Sammy App, or by using this link: https://cglink.me/23i/s236

Student Learning Outcomes:

Students who complete the Emerging Leaders Program will be able to:

  • Articulate their evolving leader identity by connecting personal values, lived experiences, and social identities to concepts from the Leadership Identity Development Model.
  • Identify their passions and sources of motivation and explain how these inform their purpose, goals, and approach to leadership within the Social Change Model.
  • Demonstrate collaborative leadership skills by engaging in team‑based activities that require trust‑building, shared decision‑making, and relational practices grounded in Relational Leadership.
  • Analyze how systems of power, privilege, and inequity shape community issues using concepts from the Social Action, Leadership, and Transformation Model.
  • Design and implement a community‑focused service project or fundraiser that demonstrates their capacity to enact positive change, collaborate with peers, and mobilize campus resources.

What will you get from participating in the Emerging Leaders Program?

  • Exclusive free swag
  • Leadership skills to add to your resume
  • Professional connections across campus

What will you learn in the Emerging Leaders Program?

Week 1 - Self Exploration
  • Discovery of beliefs, values, attitudes, and emotions
  • Developing your leader identity
Week 2 - Building Yourself Up
  • Discovery of passion and motivation
  • Sharing our “why”
  • Critical consciousness
Week 3 - Collaboration
  • Who are we as a team
  • Trust building and team dynamics
  • Relational leadership
  • Value of collective action
Week 4 - Change Agents
  • Communication and advocacy
  • Civil discourse
  • Time, place, manner
Week 5 - Common Purpose
  • Social impact
  • Equity in purpose
  • Capacity for empathy
Week 6 - Connected to our Community
  • Making change

Frameworks and Models

  • Social Change Model
  • Leadership Identity Development Model
  • Social Action, Leadership, and Transformation Model (SALT)
  • Relational Leadership

Questions about the program? Contact us at student-leadership@sjsu.edu